


Journey's End - Commentary

by Crystalliced



Series: Journey's End [3]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Commentary for Journey's End, F/M, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-08
Updated: 2015-06-21
Packaged: 2018-03-29 13:33:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3898150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crystalliced/pseuds/Crystalliced
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The title pretty much says it all.  If you got lost at some point, or if you're bored and want to read some stuff, come here.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Commentary.  If you’re not up-to-date with where the series is now, do not read this, because I will probably spoil it at some point.  Of course, none of the spoilers will be past the published story, so all you need to do is be up to date.**

* * *

 

I dodge a fireball expelled from the cannon-like mouth of the relatively high-level monster I'm currently fighting, dashing to the side as the deadly orbs fly past me.  I'm finally free, away from the watchful eyes of the NPCs that regulated my childhood, constantly watching over us.

**Watching over us.  Yes.  That seems like a grammar error, but it isn’t.  It’ll be a while before I seriously go in-depth into Tyler’s childhood, though, excepting the Lily Arc.**

 

   Nine years.  That's how long I have been trapped in the main town, learning how to use the two swords in my hand to their greatest extent since the age of six.  In that time, I have studied swordsmanship, magic, blade throwing, healing, craftsmanship, and so much more.  Everything to survive, as the date of release grew closer and closer.  And we’re finally here, today, free to live or die.  From here on out, it’s up to us, the players.

**You may find it weird how he refers to himself as “players”.  But just as people in what you would consider the real world call themselves, well, people, they’re raised to believe in players.  This is a virtual world, a game, almost...except it’s less fun and more deadly.**

Their schooling, as you will note, is also far different.  It’s a slight exaggeration where he says he’s been training to dual-wield since six, because, well, he needed basic training and the like, but by eight he was already proficient.  Is he a prodigy?  Besides a few very specific abilities, not at all.  He just works very hard.

 

**Just like in the real world, some people work harder than others, and as a result are better and generally succeed more.**

  I duck another shot from the monster I’m fighting, wincing as the heat irritates my skin.  It fires every six seconds, but those six seconds are enough to force me to abandon all forward movement in a desperate bid to dodge.  I’m a quick, light build - a single hit, at this point, would almost certainly kill me.  

**Essentially, it’s too fast for him to get in close so he can cut the stupid thing’s head off.**

  I study it again in an attempt to find a weakness I can exploit.  Called the “Red Stalk”, a plant monster, it consists of coarse, dirty roots jammed straight into the ground, preventing movement.  Its entire body and neck is a simple crimson stalk, thin, and oh-so-vulnerable.  It has a bulbous head, with the only real feature being a large mouth from which it fires off deadly projectiles.

**Taking a fireball from this thing, at this point, would get him killed.  There is very much a health system in place here.**

   There’s nothing around me I can exploit, either.  I’m on a stone path heading towards the next town, the weak material cracking if I step too hard.  The wind is still, surprisingly, but fortunate, also, as I do not know if the fireballs are affected by the movement of the breezes and I have no interest in learning.  Evergreen trees fence the straight path, but there’s an unnatural darkness past the first few meters in and the chances of an ambush, of death, are far too great to risk.

**Yeah, uh, you don’t go into dark scary places.  Essentially.**

   Obviously the neck for which it is given its name is by far the weakest part of its body, but I can’t even get to it!  A dominantly magic fighter could probably burn it, and a tankier build could probably just block everything.  As a mixed light, magical build, I don’t even have the advantage of superior speed, which would likely let me close the distance even faster.  I guess that’s the reason I find myself struggling so much with this particular mob.  At this level, I’m just not fast enough to cut the distance between myself and the mob without getting badly injured, or killed.  Common sense tells me to retreat; after all, if I can’t hit the thing, there’s only a short time before the mob finds a better way to hit me.  

**It’s a case of really bad matchup.  Essentially, everything else could kill it.  Not him, though.**

  But it’s never been in my personality to run away from a good fight, nor does this mob seem to be learning from its constant misses, so my eyes absorb all the information they can, flitting around to see if there is anything else that I can exploit.

**Most monsters, ‘mobs’, don’t learn.  They’re not self-aware.  Others do, and those are the dangerous ones.**

  I could throw one of the pair of blades I wield, but I would not have any promise of accuracy at this range, and I can’t get closer while keeping an acceptable safety margin for me to dodge with.  After all, the farther I am, the more time I have to dodge.  But if I’m closer, I must react faster, and I simply can not move quick enough to dodge if I move any closer than I am now.  

**There are those cat and mouse cartoons where the predator is trapped, so the prey draws what is essentially a “safe line” that it stays behind.  This is essentially what is happening.  Crossing the line is bad, and for obvious reasons, he needs to cross the line.**

  As a light magic user, I do have access to a weak, self-healing spell...which is pointless, as any hit I take will be my last.  I can’t block anything, and I certainly can’t reflect anything, so I must figure out a way to dodge.

**So he can’t do anything neat yet.  Low levels.  Basic magic proficiency is unlocked through levels.**

   Wait.  I can block.

 

**lolwut**

   I dive to avoid the next fireball - this time, though, I lunge forward, rolling and sprinting directly towards the Red Stalk, counting down the seconds in my head.

  At five seconds, and five meters away from the monster, I throw my sword directly at the mouth of the Red Stalk before diving sideways.

  A moment later there is a quiet noise as the fireball leaves the snout of the monster before impacting against my sword, exploding directly in front of the Red Stalk.  My sword, unable to take the direct hit, shatters into crystalline pieces, rainbow shards fading into the air.

**Sword blocks fireball.  Sword loses, but it does its job.**

  Blinded by smoke and slightly crispy, the Red Stalk doesn’t have any time to charge another shot as my second blade flashes out and cuts the plant neatly in two, ending the fight.  

**At a cost, but, yes.**

  A menu opens up, showing me the rewards from the battle, though I ignore it in favor of using the reflectiveness of the screen as a mirror.

  It seems like the Red Stalk managed to singe a bit of my short, messy black hair, leaving a bit of ashes on my cheek.  I shrug, before reading the name of the item I’ve earned.

  Hm...This could come in handy later.  I stash the sole item reward into my inventory as my eyes catch the amount of experience I’ve received from the fight.

**Yes, healing potion.**

  So I’m Level 3, now, huh?  Let’s see if those stupid Red Stalks can keep up with me now.

  They can’t.

**At this point he has bridged the gap between too slow to dodge and fast enough.  They’re no longer an issue...solo, at least.**

  I replace my sword at the nearest town, Arcacia, with no trouble, spending the money to buy a few extra.  Following the stone path forward, I encounter a girl fighting off a group of four Red Stalks about a hundred meters from the village.  She’s using an interesting weapon, a small magical wand to deftly counter the fireballs being sent at her while sending off her own barrages.  In short time, the entire group has been defeated and she holds her wand in her finishing pose, clearly low on mana - the magical energy used to utilize magical abilities and enhancements.  

**OH MY GOD ANNA HI**

  She doesn’t waver, or show her fatigue in any obvious way, but I notice the way her arms tremble slightly.

  In a flash, the red-headed stranger spins around, her green dress flaring out as her wand finds itself pointed at my throat.  I weigh the odds of me being able to pull my one remaining sword up to block however many magical attacks she casts without getting overwhelmed or disarmed, and am not pleased by the results.

**What he means is that he’s in a ridiculously bad position to do anything.**

   “Impressive.”  I say, simply, my sword pointed downwards as to not radiate hostile intent, “Though you could have done without lighting the forest on fire.”  Indeed, one of her errant shots have ignited one of the trunks and the blaze spreads, though it does not consume the wood.  

**There’s nothing like dry wit.**

   “Perhaps I just wanted to put on a show.”  The magician responds crisply, her voice flat despite all the appearances of being a innocent little girl.

**Battle-Trance seriousness.  Not actual personality.**

   “Feel free to drop the act whenever you wish.”  I retort, sheathing my sword.  “We both know that you’re dead on mana right now.”  The magical exhaustion is evident in the girl’s eyes, teal blue irises broadcasting her fatigue.

   “Okay.”  The witch responds, life returning to her voice, before sinking to her knees.  

   “Are you going to faint?”  I ask, bemused.

   “Hm...I don’t think so.”  The magician replies, though her voice quavers slightly.

**Of course she wasn’t worn out from that one little fight.  She’s killed dozens by now.  That's why she's tired.**

 

   “I’m not going to attack you, in case we haven’t established that.”  I respond blankly, noting her still-tense form and the way she sneaks suspicious glances at me.

**Still Battle Trance.  Fighting to survive.**

   “Well, that’s good.”  She murmurs, sliding her wand into the holder on her waist.  “I’d hate to have to fight someone else so early into my freedom.”  The light green summer dress she’s wearing contrasts her bright red, shoulder-length curly hair . Blue eyes bore into my own, as if probing my soul.  She rubs at a singe mark that mars her otherwise perfect fair skin.  

   “Tyler.”  I say, offering my hand to help her up.  She accepts the proffered hand.

   “Anna.”  The girl chirps, and I can’t help but be drawn into the warmth that her voice projects.  Her cold deadliness just a minute ago makes me wonder, though - which is real?

**Tyler’s kind of dense.  After all, he has the Battle Trance too.  And the True Battle Trance.  Lol.**

   “Oh, here, then.  Mana Regeneration.”  I expend roughly half my mana to rejuvenate a bit of hers - though I suspect that the amount I give is merely a drop in her mana pool.  More importantly, it increases her own regeneration rate for a short duration, which is far more beneficial.

**Mana Regeneration will take a given amount of mana and give about half of it directly to the other person.  The remainder of their energy actually increases their mana regeneration rate.  Otherwise, it would pretty much be useless.  This way, Tyler’s speeding up Anna’s natural mana regeneration rather than just giving half of his mana to hers...which is pretty much nothing to her.**

    “Thanks.”  Anna says, sounding a bit surprised, before shrugging somewhat.  “I do have Mana Potions, but the gift is appreciated, nonetheless.  You’re a magic build?  With swords?”  

**You can see why that kind of thing would be weird.**

    “AGI/MAG, yes.  Dual-wield.  And I’m to assume that you’re a purely magical build?”

**A stat system is here, too.  You’ll notice I almost completely stop talking about it after the first floor.  This goes with the idea of it being less a game and more a real struggle to survive.**

    “Mmm.  So where are you going?”  The magician asks, a note of curiosity in her voice.  I frown.  Does she know-

    “Just a little bit of level grinding.”  I say, then add:  “Though I hope to read up on some history before morning comes.”

**The Book is what they’re talking about, here.**

    “Interesting.”  Anna replies, neutrally, her face suddenly turning serious.  “That’s a rather long walk, though.  Are you sure you’re up to it?”  

**And it’s not easy to find.  Despite what you might believe of the contrary.**

    “Of course.”  I respond, a slight smile on my face, “After all, I can see the way.”

**Direct reference to Tyler being a Tracker.**

    “I see.”  Anna says, then blinking as she relaxes.  “Would you mind terribly if I come with you?”  I weigh the benefits and risks of taking Anna on my journey.

**It’s a secret.  That’s the major negative point, and The Book is going to make whoever reads it a lot smarter.  Also, Anna just kicked off her Battle Trance.**

     Anna’s a very, very powerful magician, as of now, and doesn’t seem like the type to backstab a friend...though I wouldn’t consider us friends, yet.  Her magic could be seriously useful in and outside of fights, and might even be needed for any puzzles in the way.  I’m confident in my own ability to fight anything I come across, but at the same time...I’m heading to the forest.  Nothing’s really certain there, and having someone to guard my back may be an excellent idea.

**Puzzles.  You’ll see.  The current chapters aren’t there yet, though.**

     Given that, my choice is made for me.

    “Not at all.”  I decide.  “Just give me a second to go over my equipment, so we can get anything I need before setting off.  No idea how long we’ll be there.”  I unstrap the first sheath off my back, my right-handed sword, and slide the blade out.

    “Is that steel?”  Anna inquires, running a hand along the flat of the blade.  I raise an eyebrow curiously at her.

    “You’re a practitioner?”  I question, intrigued, disappointed when she shakes her head.  “In a loose sense.”  The redhead murmurs, letting go of the steel after examining the blade for cracks.  Her tone of voice suggests that she will not answer further questions on the subject.  “Careful of extreme temperatures, it may warp the blade.  Seems to be of low quality, so I wouldn’t recommend blocking anything too magical with that.  A Fire Bolt from someone like myself could probably permanently damage this.”  I nod carefully, already aware of these issues but pleasantly surprised by the fact that she volunteered that information.

**He knows, but she doesn’t know he knows.  So basically, what she’s doing is offering what could be potentially life-saving information.**

   “I know, these are the cheapest blades.  I have better ones in my inventory, but I don’t want to risk damaging them on...other pests.”  The sun’s going low in the sky, and soon it will be dusk.  The majority of the players should be heading to an Inn to sleep, or maybe risk the wilderness in a Tent, but I already know that today’s going to be a sleepless night.

**By pests he means people.  Yes.  Crude.  But he did it.**

   “Let’s move.”  I murmur, sheathing the blade before flipping it, the hilt pointed towards her.  She gives a surprised start.  “Just in case.  You may not be a practitioner but everyone took lessons in swordplay, and I suspect you’re more comfortable wielding one than you let on.”  Anna hesitates.  “Worst comes to worst, you don’t end up using it and have an extra sword if I require it.”  

**Oooh, foreshadowing.  Whoot!**

    “Oh, alright, when you put it like that.”  The redhead says, rolling her teal-blue eyes, and I smile slightly as she takes the sheath and fluidly attaches it to the practical toolbelt on her waist, opposite of her wand holster.  The brown leather sheath gives her an interesting look, and offers a certain uncertainty to an attacker who may not be able to figure out her build.  We begin walking down the cracked stone path, the sunrise turning the sky orange-pink behind us.

**She has a wand and a sword.  And you can’t wield both at once.  Yeah, that would seriously confuse someone looking at her.**

    I slide my left hand through the air, palm open, to open my menu - a few precise taps later and I’m holding a solid-black steel sheath, sliding it into a catch hooked up onto my back.

    “Sword material?’  Anna asks.

    “Obsidian.”  I reply, opening up my menu again.

    “Doesn’t that shatter?”  She asks, more than a bit concerned.

    “Yup.  For use on players, as it’s sharp while brittle.”  The obvious advantages to a brittle sword is that it isn’t expected.  Additionally, slashing into bone should be enough to shatter it, and that would cause untold damage if the blade found its way into a body.  A second midnight sheath completes an X of swords on my back.  A third sheath, this one intricately designed, slides onto my left hip.  I move my weakest sword, the steel one in a leather holster, onto my right hip.

**Obsidian is freaking fragile and cuts like glass.  You hit someone on the head with this thing and they aren’t waking up.  It’ll massacre people.  But you can’t really use it to block, so it is very situational.  He has two of those, a steel sword, and the gold sword explained below.**

    “That one?”  

    “Enchanted gold.”  She frowns.

    “Malleable and weak to heat.”

    “It channels magic, and I’m a natural fire-elementalist.”  

   “Won’t that make the gold weaker...?”  Anna continues to question, making sure I’m not making a mistake.  I smile.

   “No, as no fire will ever damage these blades.  I can channel fire attacks with this sword and absorb fire-based attacks provided I use this sword to block.  The enchantments make the gold much harder.  I’d say it’s roughly at the durability of steel, but without fire and sword weaknesses.  It’s not really meant for cutting, though.  I mean, I can, but it’s not as sharp, so it won’t be piercing armor.  Of course, I can still use basic fire attacks with normal swords, but I can specifically fire projectiles and the like with this golden blade using mana.”  I explain, happy to finally meet an intellectual who can understand and care about the specifics.

**Basically - this is a psuedo wand, without the massive advantages a real wand provides.  And it’s a sword.**

   “So you draw across the body?  I assume you’re right handed.”  I’m not, but she doesn’t need to know that.  Her hand taps the silver hilt on the right side of my body, and, after getting nonverbal confirmation, slides the enchanted golden blade out of the sheath, examining the light-blue runes carved into the flat of the blade.  

**Tyler is ambidextrous.  This one limitation is why people don’t dual-wield more often.  He’s born ambidextrous.  You can train ambidexterity, but it’s no fun.**

   “This thing is beautiful.”  Anna replies, waving it in front of her to get a feel for the balance.  “And really light, too.  Could I try casting through this?”

   “Why not?”  I reply, after searching my memory to see if there are any safety rules against that.  She emits a simple Fire Bolt, the flare impacting on the ground with a small explosion.  

**Safety rules?  Well, yes, someone else forcing their magic through your magic artifact could have potentially disastrous consequences.  Light foreshadowing.**

When the dust clears, we both examine the small hole in the ground.

   “I would hate to be hit by that.”  I murmur, as she laughs delightedly.

   “Well, armor would stop the majority of it, especially against heavier players.  Generally, MAG beats AGI, AGI beats STR, and STR beats MAG.”  She flips the blade, handing me the hilt.  “Unless you’re crafty, or you can go through with brute magical force.”  The girl smirks.  

   “And you would be both.”  Her grin widens.

**As strong as you are, a hot enough fire will burn straight through whatever you use to block.  This is what Anna is implying she can do.**

   “Naturally.  You’re a Tracker?”  Anna says, sliding her Magic Wand out before whispering “Illuminate.”  The star-shaped tip of her wand glows with a bright white light that provides us with a corona of light about five meters in radius, even as the sun goes down.

**This is actually a lightning spell toned down.  A lot.**

    “Yes.”  I am a Tracker, one of the abilities that a player can be created with.  I do not need the light to guide my steps, a red trail leading me to my destination having been painted out the entire time.  Even without it, I have reasonable night vision, as decided by my tracker ability.  

**It’s like a map.**

    After some thought, I pull out a black cloak, draping it over my swords without being too restricting.  It’s cold, and will only get colder, and I have no intention of freezing.  Anna, as a magic user, should be fine.

**It’s not that he’s being a jerk, Anna literally has a wand that can emit fire.  She’s fine.**

    “The path takes us into the forest.  You ready?”  It goes without saying that trailing off the path is very dangerous regardless of the situation, as it opens us up to ambushes from all sides in dark and confined spaces.  As far as we can see, bare pine trees cluster together, leaving the possibility for many ambush points.  It is a confirmed fact that monster spawn is drastically increased in the forest...and they like to attack in groups.  On top of that, more often than not, the monsters are of a higher level, being quicker, sturdier, more damaging, and occasionally mutated.  According to what I know about the path, after walking a few meters, there should be a long clearing that leads us to our destination.  This is what we hope to exploit.

**So, uh, forest = bad.  A few meters to the clearing, yes, but those few meters are going to be NASTY.**

**  
**     “Yeah.  Let’s go.”  We turn and walk off the path into the silent forest, the moon watching unceasingly as we disappear into the night. **  
**


	2. Chapter 2

Fire burns brightly on a plethora of trunks and branches, lighting up the clearing.  This is intentional, as it provides desperate light for Anna, who would be lost without it.  She seems to be resting for a second, but only a second, as we’re engaged in yet another series of fights.

   This armor-plated version of the Red Stalk would give me some trouble, if I was alone.  More so, because we’ve yet to find a wave of mobs smaller than five.  The rumors of the forest turned out to be true - mobs are indeed much more powerful here, and you would have to be suicidal to go it alone.  

**Well, they made it to the clearing.  They’re not alone, though.**

     Anna freezes the head of the Red Stalk as I rush in and slam my steel blade into the ice, shattering the cube and decapitating the plant before diving sideways to avoid the electric bolt that pulverizes the wood of a nearby trunk, sending the tree toppling to the ground, which happens to block off a trio of Mutated Red Stalks.  This buys me about two seconds before they blast right through the debris, sending wood splinters everywhere.

**Battle Trance = Situational awareness.  Well, that, and his Tracker abilities amplify it further.  This guy pretty much has the highest situational awareness possible.**

     By then, though, I’m already on the Electric Serpent that dared to attack me, dodging a quick-moving tail to stab a golden, flame-wreathed blade through the beast, already rolling to avoid the unstoppable onslaught of fireballs.  We haven’t been surrounded yet, and that’s only because of Anna’s incredibly quick casting, sending fireballs and freezing bolts to counter the frenzy of activity focused upon us.

     “Electric Chain!”  Purple lightning crackles across the forest, ricocheting off the trio of Red Stalks and managing to kill all of them.  The effort exhausts Anna, though, and she drops to her knees, a Mana Potion already in her hand.

 

**Fire and Ice are pretty cheap.  Lightning drains like hell as a result of the ability to hit multiple enemies while maintaining high DPS.**

     “Fire Blast.”  I announce, launching the more explosive version of Fire Bolt to send three trees to the ground, seriously damaging or wounding what feels like a never-ending swarm of monsters.

**They can’t even fight the group head-on.  They’re using the trees as blockades, etc.**

     “Thanks, Tyler.”  And Anna’s back to her feet, fire and lightning and ice pouring from her wand.  I nod tersely before dashing sideways, intercepting an arrow aimed at my friendly mage before crossing swords with the Skeleton Warrior, the undead’s bow already sliced in half.  His strength is greater than mine, yes, but I have two blades, and my golden one erupts into flames as it bisects the white warrior.  

     Anna and I are both leveling very quickly - the constant barrage of high-leveled monsters is causing that.  By now, we must both be at least level six.  Before I walked into the forest, I was barely level three.

**It’s only the Battle Trance and their own ridiculous skill allowing them to do this.  They are the ONLY two at this point in time capable of doing what they’re doing.**

   A fireball burns past my arm, and I turn to the offending Mutated Red Stalk, returning fire with a practiced aim.  I land a direct hit, though it doesn’t kill the enemy and it takes another shot.  This time, I bait it into shooting a fellow plant, and both begin exchanging fire, shooting every few seconds repeatedly.  A second chain of lightning destroys both weakened attackers, and I’m already moving to fight an Ice Guardian, which seems like a particularly formidable attacker.  

**Yes, he actually fired off and successfully landed a Fire Bolt against the Mutated Red Stalk and it STILL didn’t die.  There IS a reason people don’t go into the forest.**

   An icy humanoid, waves of frost literally slide off of the small giant, about three meters in height.  It seems to inhale seconds before a cold wave of air travels between the trees, freezing everything it touches.

   “Watch out, Anna.”  I shout out, not urgent, but alerting her to the new threat.  She seems to have heard me, though, as a Fire Bolt flies true to strike it directly in the face.  Damage, however, is quite limited, though it does stop the breath attack in its tracks.  The fog dissipates, leaving behind permanently destroyed trees ruined by the sharp decrease in temperature.

**It’s not weak to fire.  The ice is too intense.  That doesn’t mean you can’t hit for normal damage, though.  Currently, Anna is sacrificing power for rate-of-fire.  A full-powered Fire Bolt would have done much more damage.**

    A Fire Blast exits my golden blade and impacts off of the Ice Guardian, sending it skidding back a few meters and shattering all the frozen trees like glass, the crystal shards disappearing after a second.  The giant mob itself snorts a little before reaching behind it and pulling out a massive, solid-ice sword, before charging at me with a surprising speed.

**Frozen trees -- the breath attack from the Ice Guardian froze them solid.**

   Fortunately, the rate of attacks does not match its shockingly good mobility, and I can dodge with ease, landing several glancing blows before wreathing my steel sword in flames and slashing the ice sword in half, two stabs cutting through the giant’s stomach and chest a second later.

**Slow but powerful, fairly quick ground movement.**

    It doesn’t die, to my disappointment, and it turns out that I only had such a large window of opportunity because it wanted to fire a breath attack, which I dodge by the barest of margins.  I feel a bit of ice form on my black cloak, though ignore it for now, prioritizing a point-blank Fire Bolt that slays the Ice Guardian.

**Two Fire Bolts and two fire-enhanced stabs.**

    I take a moment to catch my breath before footsteps pound behind me.  I whirl around, my blades already in a defensive position, but it turns out that the mysterious person is just Anna.

    “Alive?”  She gasps out, another murky-brown Mana Potion already sliding down her lips.  As an afterthought, she wordlessly throws one to me, and I greedily swallow it, the chocolate-tasting liquid delightfully sweet and energizing.

**I picked brown because chocolate. >.>**

    “By a wide margin.”  I say simply, and it’s true.  I did not take anything worse than a glancing blow.  

**And only because he’s quick.**

    Which is good, because a hit from anything flying around would have been really bad, to say the least.

   “Good.  Have we made progress?”  Anna asks, the tiredness still in her voice, and I quickly run a calculation.

   “Yeah, about a couple hundred meters in.  I’m worried about being followed, though.”  We both turn around to look at the absolute destruction we’ve left behind, trees crashing to the ground on occasion as the fire we’ve left behind eats through them.  “Don’t think anyone would be stupid enough to follow anything that could do this.”  

**Basically, they sprinted through the few meters of foliage, attracting basically everything's attention, and are now advancing while fighting everything off.**

    Turns out, bringing Anna was an incredibly smart idea.  The lightning attack she unlocked about ten minutes into the fray defused tons of potentially scary situations, say, killing three Mutated Red Stalks at the same time.

**Without her, he would have died.  Even with True Battle Trance.**

    “There’s no way in hell we’re not the highest-level players in the game now.”  Anna mutters, her breath finally recovered.  I glance at my stats window.

    “Level nine.”  I offer, checking the time as well.

    “Ten, but only because of the lightning spam.”  Electric Chain has the potential to hit multiple targets while doing a lot of damage, but it’s a serious drain on her energy and its use cost many Mana Potions.   

    “How long do you think we’ve got-”  I begin, but abruptly choke off as the sound of fighting breaks out in the distance, behind us.  Immediately, Anna and I quickly move to the left, melting into the shadows of the trees still standing.

    “It’s a group of at least ten.”  I whisper, concentrating my Tracker sense to see as far as possible while Anna stands guard, making sure we are not ambushed.  

**I’m sure a lot of you think that the Tracker sense is very overpowered.  It is, in a way, but the other passive abilities are just as good.  You’ll be introduced to the second of (three?  four?  Don’t remember.) in the third floor.**

    “Strength?”  The witch asks, her body tense.   

    “They’re struggling a bit, but that’s because they’re surrounded.  I’d say...Level Six, maximum, for their leader, and Level Five for the rest.”  I report, watching them try to lead coordinated attacks.

**This is a guess, of course.**

****

    “Not good for us.”  Anna whispers, as the fight seems to die down, the group of players triumphant.  They continue marching forward, their voices carrying through the forest.

    “Keep your eyes peeled, there’s got to be people somewhere, and we can take their stuff and loot them.”  This coming from a gruff-sounding man.

    “We’re not gonna kill them, are we, boss?”  A childish voice.

    “Only if they surrender before fighting.  Otherwise, no mercy.”  A chorus of cheers follow as my blood runs cold.

    “Well.”  Anna says acerbically, her hands clenched and her face blank, “I think we ought to pay them due respects.”

**Essentially, the opposing party is going to kill them.  Like hell Anna and Tyler would surrender.  This obviously doesn’t go over well with Anna, who is actually somewhat prideful.  She has humility, but when people piss her off...**

    “Anna, I don’t think this is a fight we can win.”  I murmur, studying the group further.  “At least four mages...”

     “I don’t want people like that getting their hands on the Book.  That would be paramount to dooming us all, Tyler.  With you or without you, I’m going to fight them.  We can’t hide here, they have to have a tracker.  We need to make a stand.”  I can see the determination in her eyes, and I know I don’t have a choice.  

**Yeah.  The Book is powerful.  Knowledge is power.**

****

    “With you, then.  Take care of the mages, please, then see if you can’t slow down the heavier players.”  I say, resigned to a fight.  Anna pulls out a Mana Potion, uncapping it with a flick of a finger.

    “Here goes.”  And with a slash of her wand, lightning crackles out from the starry tip into her first victim as the group runs into view, striking his wand hand and temporarily removing him from the fight.  The chain lightning jumps to a second victim, a man wielding a two-handed broadsword, and the shock sets his cloak alight while sending him to his knees.  The third victim is another magician, this one holding up a staff, and the lightning hits him in the back and sends him tumbling to the ground.

    The group reacts quickly, two shield-users running in front of the group.  One of them is clearly the leader, utilizing a steel one-handed sword and tower shield.  He manages to parry Anna’s second bolt of lightning, causing the girl to curse.

**Yeah, you can block a lightning bolt.  As long as you have an insulated grip and the power behind your swing.**

    “Charge!”  And the group, seven up and three behind, takes off at a run, two wand-users already preparing spells at the outskirts of the group.

   Anna and I simultaneously launch a Fire Blast, hers causing a fairly large explosion that halts their charge while mine catches a surprised mage in the throat, his mouth opening to scream before the fireball explodes, taking his head with it.

**Certain things are kills, no matter how much defense you have.  An explosion point-blank in your face is one of those.**

   And thus the first player dies, though it is quite the pretty sight, rainbow shards falling to the ground before disappearing in small flashes of light.  With no time to dwell on it, and the group in chaos about twelve meters in front of us, I target the fourth mage, though he manages to counter with his own fireball in time and return fire, which I block by drawing my golden sword and literally catching the fireball on the tip of my blade, sending it flying into the nearest shield.

**His gold sword can channel fire, remember?  As long as he blocks it with the gold sword, he is immune to fire.**

   Anna fires off a third Chain Lightning, and this one succeeds in bringing down the mage I had targeted, though I do not think he is dead.  The lightning bounces, but does not hit anyone else as it is parried by a silver sword belonging to a light build.  

   The redhead fires a frenzy of fire and ice spells, drinking the potion midcast to fire more, though only one of a dozen attacks actually break through the wall they’ve set up.  

   “Stop, you’re wasting mana now.  Take shots as they come, quick ice attacks when the opportunity arises and explosive fire when they seem distracted.”  I need to finish off their mages before they heal and break their shielding, which will leave them open to Anna, who should be able to put them down quickly.

**Again, sacrificing power for rate-of-fire.  If she were to actually focus her shots only the shields could have stopped her then, and not for long, as she would’ve just Fire-Blasted the ground at their feet.**

    As I dash diagonally, intending to use the cover of the trees for safety, one of the mages on the ground target Anna with a bolt of electricity, the same attack that she has been using, though with less intensity.  She cancels it out with a different type of lightning, this one bright blue, her stronger magic powering through and striking the enemy magician.

**Violent demonstration of actual power when she doesn’t spam attacks.**

   This bolt doesn’t bounce, and deals much more damage, as the mage, a young boy, spasms once before dissolving into crystal shards.  Two down.

**One-shot kill.  It’s not that the mage was weak, it’s just that Anna is THAT powerful and there is a substantial level difference.**

    I’ve come into range of the first enemy, who is too distracted by Anna’s use of frozen shuriken, and my burning golden sword sinks into his head with no trouble, killing him instantly.  He seemed like an AGI user, if his leather armor was of any indication.   

**Faster than Tyler, actually.  But not as battle-ready.  Had there been an actual fight, it wouldn't have mattered.  Tyler's better.  A lot better.**

    The enemy group, now alerted to my presence, turns to me, the two shield users distracted enough for Anna’s Fire Blast to send one falling to the ground.  That’s all of the time I have to watch her fight, though, and I trust her to take care of herself, as I’m now trading blows with two different swordsmen, both AGI builds using a one-handed sword and a katana, respectively.  

**Turning your back to the girl shooting fire, ice, and lightning?  Er...**

    The latter blade gives me significant trouble, as the range of the blade is nearly a meter long and I don’t have the time to get in close without the other attacker getting me, which makes him the priority.  At the same time, the longer blade forces me to spend significant amount of time on defense.  Any attack I make, when I find those limited moments of opportunity, is done with flame-wreathed blades that have the strength to force either back.

**Basically, the katana-user has a long sword, and he’s keeping Tyler out of range.  On top of that, Tyler’s being attacked by the other one-handed swordsman, who, mind you, is quicker.  So he’s being forced on defense.**

    During one such moment, I manage to make the katana user stumble with a wide slash of my steel sword.  Continuing the motion, I release my blade and it flies true, stabbing into the leg of the falling shield user as he tries to get back up.  He’s not the leader, the one I hoped to hit, but I still have managed to halve their defensive power and Anna should be able to start throwing lightning around.

**Literally the second he overpowers the katana swing, he lets go of his sword.**

    Realizing this, the Leader surveys the area before growling and taking off after Anna as a Blue Lightning bolt streaks past him to drill straight into the one-handed AGI swordman I was fighting, paralyzing him enough for me to draw an obsidian blade in my empty right hand, stabbing it into the man’s throat.

**With the attack speed against him halved, it’s no problem for Tyler to take advantage.**

 

    I rip it out quickly as I block a series of attacks from the now-enraged katana user, only using my golden sword.  I do not want to risk the shattering of my fragile obsidian blade more than necessary.  

**He didn’t hit the bone, he just cut the veins and arteries.  Enough to kill, definitely.  But not enough to shatter the blade.**

    When he tries to infuse his blade with ice magic, I take a single step back and direct the strongest possible Fire Bolt I can manage at his chest.  He blocks, but his blade snaps in half and the flame pierces through him.  My golden blade follows.

**Tyler’s fire versus random person’s weaker ice.  Yeah...bad move.**

    Looking around for my ally, I almost get nailed by a purple lightning bolt by one of the two remaining enemy mages, reflecting it into the ground in the nick of time.  The trio that Anna had dropped earlier, anyways - they’re running up, the magicians firing magic at me.  I sink back into the foliage, my deadly dance with the two swordsmen lasting under thirty seconds.

**Fights are short when one's significantly better, unless they’re boss fights.**

     To my dismay, four Mutated Red Stalks are waiting for me, presumably attracted by the fight, and fire at me the second I turn around.  My golden blade is the only thing that saves me, absorbing the attacks, but the effort melts the blade permanently.  I hurl the molten mass at the nearest plant before leaping out of the shadows, my second obsidian sword in my hand.

**Overloaded, essentially.  So now he has his two weak obsidian swords.  Lol.**

     A few meters away, the shield user that I threw my sword at earlier is struggling to get up, and I assist him by stabbing my blade through his skull.  I throw my right-hand obsidian sword at the closest person, which happens to be a rapier-wielding user.  He tries to block by stabbing at it, but the black rock explodes into bits and blinds him long enough for me to manually cast, with an open hand, a Fire Bolt through his skull.

**It’s hard to get up with a sword in your leg.  Also, yes, you can cast from your hand.  But magicians never ever ever do this, because-**

  * **You can only cast from one side at a time**

  * **No benefits, unlike from casting with a wand**




**Casting with a wand is much better than casting with a hand.**

    Quickly grabbing the steel blade off the ground, I pedal back furiously as a barrage of fire flies at me, twisting and dodging the attacks of the mages.  Not for long, though, as the Mutated Red Stalks emerge from the clearing and occupy the two mages and the lone strength-build enemy.  I leave them to it, knowing that more mobs will appear, attracted by the violence.

    Sprinting to where Anna retreated, it takes a few seconds before they come into view.  Anna still alive and holding her ground by expelling a ridiculous amount of ice and pure mana to keep the leader away.

**A blizzard, essentially.**

The sheer power of the attack is forcing him to hide behind his shield, and the force is actually pushing him back.  Glimpsing his nametag as he curses at the girl, I lock my sights onto “Adam” and throw my obsidian blade.  Some sense warns him, though, and he uses his one-handed steel sword to block it.  The black sword shatters against the steel, but it does not cut him up, the sharp shards bouncing off the man’s chainmail armor.

   Changing tactics, I expend the rest of my mana into firing a Mana Regeneration spell at Anna, who sends me a grateful look.  She ends the ice spell, the dirt in a twenty-meter cone in front of her frozen solid.

**“Breath attack on steroids.”**

    Hm...

    I pull open my inventory to withdraw my final sword, another basic steel sword, before dashing forward to launch an attack on Adam, who has positioned himself to prevent attacks from multiple directions.

**He’s back to two steel swords.**

    Five quick slashes, all ricocheting ineffectively off that stupid tower shield, but doing their job and stalling long enough for Anna to swallow another Mana Regeneration potion.  I jump back to give the witch a clear line of fire, which she takes.

    Adam holds his shield up in defense, the steel glowing iridescently, as the fire impacts the silver.  I can see the glow, turned solid, crack after a few seconds of exposure to the heat.

 

**Literally line of fire, pun.  Also, this is Anna’s power attack, now that she’s not spamming abilities everywhere.  She is actually melting through his shield.**

 

    Cursing, he tries to move away, but Anna persists with the intense fire, sweat pouring down her face.  I quickly pop the top off a Mana Regeneration potion before firing off a second Mana Regeneration at her, which she acknowledges with a quick nod.

**It’s implied that he drinks the potion.**

    Deciding to take the opportunity, I run around Adam, hoping to strike him while he can’t attack back, but he’s now steadily on the move, running back while blocking.  From this angle I can see that Adam’s shield is in danger of actually melting, a glowing orange spot in the center of his shield showing the stress being applied.  He retreats into the forest, slipping off into the coverage of the trees when the fire is interrupted by a tree trunk, just as I swipe at him.  Anna continues the fire, lightning his retreat in fire before cutting the magic flow, dropping to her knees.

   For good measure, I fire off a Fire Blast into the darkness where I last saw him, but there are no screams of pain.  I could chase and catch him, but the possibility of being ambushed is quite high, and I would not have the advantage in such enclosed areas.  With a frustrated sigh, I run back into the clearing.  

**Tactical retreat.**

    Anna’s already up and moving to me, an empty Mana Regeneration potion thrown carelessly into the grass.

    “Did you get all of them?”  Anna asks, the intensity draining from her features as she slips out of her battle trance.  

     “Left the three that you tagged with Chain Lightning there.  Mobs should be converging on them soon, attracted by the fight.  It might not be worth it to finish them off, and we’re losing time, anyways.”  I answer.  The full moon glows bright in the center of the starless night.

**They could go finish them off, but they’d be fighting a lot of mobs.  While not as big of a challenge, it is still risky, and there’s the matter of getting to The Book.**

      “Fair point.”  Anna murmurs.  “Which way, now?”  

      “Forward.  We should be getting close.”  I respond, checking my Tracker senses.  “There’s some kind of structure ahead, probably what we’re looking for.  You ready?”

      “Let’s go.”  And we both fly into action, footprints running away from the destruction we’ve left behind.

 

**This chapter should have made it clear that Tyler and Anna are both very powerful, and that Tyler has an excellent magic affinity - fire - on top of swordsmanship, + Tracker and Battle Trance.  Anna has Battle Trance and obscenely powerful magic abilities and strategy.**


	3. Chapter 3

“This is it!”  Anna says, excited, as we run into a massive circular clearing.  In the center is a fairly small, simple stone hut, perhaps four meters in height, length, and width.  The ground is simple dirt, no vegetation growing anywhere inside the clearing.  My Tracker sense assures me that there are no traps anywhere in sight, though Anna is too careless / impatient to wait, already sprinting across the clearing, the sunrise making her shield her eyes.

**She likes books.**

     The redhead grabs the doorknob and pulls the stone door open, slamming it back with a loud crash before sprinting past the threshold, to where a worn, tattered book lies on a stone table.  Her touch opens a small window, a nametag.  It is simply called, “The Book.”

     “Illuminate!”

     About a meter in both height and width, and at least ten centimeters thick, all I can think to say is:

      “Wow.”

      Anna is already jumping onto the table to eagerly flip the damaged leather cover open, her eyes already scanning the pages.  

**She likes books a lot.**

     I pat her on the head and she looks up, a bit sheepishly.  “Ah...Erm...You wouldn’t mind, if I...I kind of want to read, and well...”  I laugh, breaking her awkward stuttering.  “Take as much time as you want, as long as you summarize it to me after, okay?”  She nods happily, murmuring thank you’s, already going back to read The Book.

    With a half-smile on my face, I step outside, shutting the door quietly behind me.  

**Tyler doesn’t really want to read...just knowing the information is enough for him.  He’s not a particularly big fan of reading.**

**At the same time, this IS a valuable artifact...**

**So he’s not letting just anyone read it.  He recognizes the FACT that without Anna, there would have been a much longer delay, if he had made it at all.  Given that, he doesn’t have an issue with giving her first dibs.**

**Anna, on the other hand...well...she likes books.  A lot.**

 

**But I think we covered that.**

    With a triple slash I cleave the last Electric Serpent into fractured crystal death, my level rising to eleven.  I am, now, probably the second strongest player in the game, losing only to Anna.  And even then, only barely - I could probably drain every last iota of energy she has before going down, and that’s with only my basic steel swords.  

**Anna wins now, because of the matchup.  Light builds don’t work well fighting against magic builds.**

    It’s been about seven hours, and I’ve entertained myself by clearing out the monsters in the large clearing.  With my heightened levels, nothing really threatened me, simply moving too slow to be of consequence.  The sun is blazing bright in the sky, now...Just before noon, I think.

    I frown, looking at the sword in my left hand.  There’s a small chip in the center, I think, and it probably won’t take much-

**-to break.  Foreshadowing?!**

    A flash of light is the only warning I get, and only instinct sends me diving sideways.  I roll, hit the ground, and bring my right hand up just in time to block a downward blow that would have severed my arm from my body.  The deadlock gives me time to examine the face of my attacker - and, to my utter surprise, it’s a girl.  

**He shouldn’t be surprised.  Sexist.**

    There’s a white, featureless mask covering her face.  Short brown hair peeks behind the mask.  A brown longcoat billows behind her, hiding the rest of her clothing.  She’s rather short, a few inches under me, but, for all that, she would have run me through twice had I been even a second later.

**I guess most girls aren’t normally ruthless enough to attempt a first strike like that.**

    Her sword is a rapier, equipped with an intricate, jeweled hilt that she holds with ease.  The whole weapon seems to be made of silver, with leather wrapped around the guard and precious gems decorating the hilt.  The sword is nearly as long as the katana, which is a problem...

**The katana, as in the previous fight.**

    “Where’s The Book?”  Her quiet, feminine voice whispers, melodic in an interesting way.  It gives away nothing, just like Anna’s face when she slips into her battle trance.  Given Anna’s level of power...I hope that this girl is much, much, weaker, but...The sheer ruthlessness of her attacks makes me worry.

**Efficiency.  Not ruthlessness.**

    “That’s something I can’t tell you.  My partners are still working on it, and I’m here to stall until theyfinish up.”  I’m careful not to give away any hints, finding no issues with deluding the intruder into believing that there’s a group of people rather than just a lone magician in the stone hut.  Granted, a lone magician that has a significant advantage over this girl, but...

**If he can make his opponent realize that she’s heavily outmatched, she might have backed off.  It’s a thought, anyways.**

    My instincts tell me one thing, and it is that this girl is dangerous.

    “I see.  I’ll deal with them after I deal with you, I suppose.”  Her sword arm tenses.  Silver!  My brain screams, as she tilts the blade ever so slightly and sunlight sears my eyes, reflected off of the precious metal.

**Tyler has a lot of battle smarts, and he’s used weapons in unorthodox ways, just like Lindsey.  As such, he can recognize some of the...unusual uses of weapons during combat.  Silver is a HIGHLY reflective metal, and as such, this is a possible use.**

    On pure instinct, I jump back again, crossing my swords in an X.  I manage to block both of her strikes - fast! - and land on my feet, my blades already lashing out in a practiced pattern.  

**In the time it takes for him to set his blades from a defensive stance into an X-cross, she has slashed TWICE.**

**Yeah.  That’s very quick.  Later in the series, it seems like she’s slower, especially in duels and what-not, but her only real fights have been against bosses, where speed isn’t discussed, and against Tyler, who has two swords and a lot of skill behind him.**

**She’s not any weaker, I assure you.  She gets faster, but Tyler is able, with two swords, to match this speed.  He freely admits to himself that, had he been using only one sword, she would have completely destroyed him.**

**Even with the True Battle Trance.  Lindsey isn’t unskilled at all.**

    We trade blows rapidly back and forth.  I’m wary for more flashes, but she seems more interested in stabbing me with lightning-quick strikes that I barely manage to keep up with.  Without my second sword, I would have been overwhelmed, and indeed, some of my blocks are pure luck.

**When you have a rapier, most of your attacks wind up being stabs.  Lindsey covers for this weakness later in the series through an ice-coating that makes her blade durable, in exchange for a slight weight increase, allowing her to slash without worrying that her light blade is going to shatter into tiny bits.**

     “A dual-wielder?  Pretty interesting.”  My attacker comments thoughtfully.  A sudden flash and another attempt to pierce my chest, blocked.

**Dual-wielding is rare because both of your hands need to be able to effectively wield.  Most people aren’t ambidextrous, or willing to train their hands for it.**

    “Yeah, well, I didn’t think I’d ever have to fight someone quite as tricky as you.”  The next glint of light occurs as she’s running at me, and without my Tracker ability helping telegraph her location, I would have already been dead.  As it is, I’m barely keeping up with her constant movement and strafing, and the beams of sunlight being directed at my face do not help.

**Tracker’s slight reflex and sensory advantage help deal with her ridiculous speed and movements.**

    “I take that as a compliment.”  The girl says, as her rapier opens up a small laceration on my left wrist with a lightning-fast stab.  She dodges my kick aimed at her stomach and flips away before dashing sideways, parrying my quick attempt at disarming her with an upwards slash.

     “You’re pretty fast.  But not too fast.  You’re a mixed build, aren’t you?”  My attacker opens up a shallow cut on my cheek.  “Ooh, just a few inches to the right.”

**To clarify, Lindsey said both of those statements.**

     “Irritating.”  I mutter, slamming my blade against hers to push her back a bit.  I get the distinct feeling that the girl is frowning under her mask.  Her frenzy of nearly untrackable slashes and stabs increases in speed, until I’m pushed solely on defense, her feet moving in a rapid pattern as her silver blade blurs through the air...

**She doesn’t stay still.  That’s the idea.**

      She dances away as I slash at her head, before a quick thrust cuts through my longcoat, barely missing.  She parries a swipe at her abdomen then rolls out of the way of my left-handed stab, leaving behind another wound on my left arm as she gets out of point-blank distance.  Backing away, I take a defensive position.

**She needs to keep him at a certain range to be able to launch stabs.  At extreme point-blank, you can’t get that motion going, so she needed to back away.   Tyler realizes this, of course, but he needs a breather.**

   She’s smart enough to not get baited by the intentional openings I leave in my defense, fast enough to take advantage of unintentional openings, and tricky enough to make continuing the fight dangerous.  No, this is the better option.  A defensive stand relying on powerful attacks - the one thing she has yet to match me in.

    Flash.  Flash.

    A triple stab, all three hits landing on my left-hand sword.  My instincts tell me to counterattack, but I don’t, concentrating.  

   Block.  Block.  She moves to one side, now that I’m in a stationary position, and I track her effortlessly, parrying repeatedly.

**Pure defense right now.**

   Then the sword in my left hand shatters, her blade striking the chip that I had been examining earlier.  I throw myself sideways, but can’t completely dodge.  Her sword goes through my right shoulder, and it is only through strength of will that I retain my grip.  Fortunately, I am ambidextrous, but this will seriously damage my fighting ability.  There’s no way I’ll be allotted the time to heal, either.

    Calm down.  Focus.

    My left hand find the hilt of my remaining sword, in a defensive stance.  My eyes flutter closed, and remained closed, as the brushes of light bounce ineffectually against my darkened vision.

**So right now, he’s closing his eyes, taking a one-handed stance with his left hand.  His right hand currently isn’t doing well, what with the stab wound in his shoulder.**

His Tracker abilities allow him to remain fighting.  He can’t necessarily see, but he can sense at such a fine-tuned level with his eyes closed and with complete concentration that she can’t get around his defense, even if he is using only one sword.

**Battle Trance only amplifies this.**

    “Something new?”  Yes.  My Tracker vision still works, even in the darkness, and I can sense her perfectly.  With this vision-

    She slashes at my throat.

    -I can see her movements-

    I parry, and two stabs in the same second, aimed at my head and throat-

    -And even better, I can-

    Blocked, a wide sweep knocking her back a step.  

    -see how she telegraphs her attacks.

    I step inside one of her stabs, grab her by the throat, and slam her forehead against mine.

     My eyes open.

     She stumbles back, as her mask splits down the middle and dissolves into crystal, revealing a beautiful, young, scared face.

     Naked shock in her sapphire eyes, as her back slams into one of the pine trees at the edge of the clearing.  

     She’s just a girl.

     I swing in a horizontal arc, and she blocks - a decision almost as bad as taking the hit.  Her arms tremble with exertion as the thin blade of her rapier bends.

    “You’re going to lose this fight.”  I state.  It’s not an opinion, and it’s not banter.  It’s cold, hard truth.  And I think the certainty in my voice shakes her, because her blade slips for a second and I headbutt her, again.

**Ouch.**

 

**He's headbutting her, not because he wants to save her life, but for the psychological effect it has.**

 

**Seriously, if you're in a sword-fight to the death and your opponent is skilled enough to slide close and smash your head with his, that's very intimidating.  Also, blood may obstruct her vision if the skin breaks.**

    The broken skin of her forehead drips blood, a crimson trail sliding down her face, mesmerizing.  I can see the fear in her eyes, even as she kicks me in the stomach and darts to the side.  I manage to catch her name, though.

     “Lindsey.”  

     She’s shivering now, losing her composure.  Our blades clash again, but she’s not as fast now, perhaps too intimidated.  Not as powerful.  I riposte, my sword sinking into her left shoulder.

**A shoulder for a shoulder.  Heh.**

    She doesn’t cry out, but I can clearly see the pain in her expression.  It makes me feel sick, and I back off as she cries out in pain and twists away, her left hand plastered to her shoulder, already slickened with blood.

    She’s as young as I am.

    ...But...this is reality.  Where teenagers kill to survive, to fight to be alive when all fifty floors are finished.  I can’t...feel pity.  I can’t hesitate.  

     Her left arm dangles uselessly at her side, mirroring my right arm with a similar wound, and neither of us can heal, as she lunges forward again, a new determination in her eyes.

    Where do you find your strength, girl?

    Her strokes are not quite as precise as they were, and I’m not as fast as I was, both of us held back by human weakness, pain and pity...      

    “Heal.”  I whisper, my hand finding my injured shoulder and, rather than pressing the attack, Lindsey does the same.  The mana rushes up my arm and flows into my wound, sealing it in moments.  

**It’s implied they both backed off to heal.**

    What can I do?  There’s no point in imbuing my sword with fire - that would only help me overpower her, in this case, and there’s no point in doing that.  I can already do that with ease.  What I need to do is cripple her speed, and then she will have nothing.  How...?

    I see.

    She parries desperately as I put all the power I can into a sideways slash, and she leaps backwards before lunging forward.

**Let me make this clear - she didn’t PARRY completely.  There’s no damn way she could.  His full power versus her defensive block?  No.  She only held for a second before leaping backward.**

    I don’t dodge, not entirely.  The blade goes through my left shoulder, as I lunge forward, mana already sparkling in my hand.   Holding back my cry of pain and forcing down the burning supernova in my joint, I drop my sword and press my hand to her stomach, channeling fire energy into my hand.

**His left shoulder is useless, but his right arm’s usable, if still damaged, and he can channel mana**.

    ...I’m sorry...

    I bury the tears and the regret and the anguish I feel at her defeated, widened eyes, and her realization as my hand heats up before forcefully expelling the mana stored in it, skewering her as it tears through her soft flesh.

    “...Fire Bolt.”  

**Healing doesn’t completely heal severe wounds.  Stab wounds...you can stop the bleeding with a healing crystal or mana or potion, but they don’t heal completely.  It just massively speeds up the process.**

**In about thirty minutes, give or take, his shoulder wound should heal.  Lindsey’s given her weakened magic and increased wound size (rapier blade vs. one-handed sword), more like an hour.**

    I turn away from the body, walking away slowly, hesitantly.  

    The Fire Bolt materialized in Lindsey’s stomach, causing irreparable damage.

    Last night, I took five lives with no regret, no pity, and no emotion.  Kills, caused by my hand, wielding a blade that tore open flesh, or using magic, summoning fire to destroy.

    Then why do I feel so terrible about Lindsey?

   ...Gods, what have I done?  She was my age.  Maybe younger.  She acted tough, but she was human, unbearably so.  I watched her lose composure.  I forced the loss of her confidence, meticulously tearing her apart.  My sword remembers the feel of her skin as it cut her open, taking her apart piece by piece.  

**It’s not mentioned here, but he’s totally thinking about Lily.**

    She was just a young girl who wanted to survive, who did what she thought was right to survive, and I ended her life.

   A quiet gasp of pain.  So soft that I can barely hear it over the short distance I have traveled.  No...

**About his younger self.**

    I run back, where, propped against a tree, the young brunette girl clings to life, her hand pressed over the bloody tear going right through her.  Her legs must be paralyzed - the fireball likely split her spinal cord.  Did she drag herself to a sitting position?  I can’t see another explanation for it.

    Her limited magical use must be the only thing alive - even now, the faint glow of her hand dissipates.  She’s probably used the last of her energy to help regenerate some health - futile.  The burn icon burns brightly next to her slowly declining health bar, along with a lightning image that indicates paralyzation.  The blood is already slowly draining from her face, though there isn’t much blood on the ground.  Did the fire cauterize as it tore?  That thought sickens me.

**Angst~**

    Her terrified eyes lock onto me, focusing for a second.

    “N-No...”  Lindsey gasps, her right hand tightening around the silver blade left abandoned on the ground.  She struggles to lift it, I can see it in her eyes, but fails.  It’s no longer an option.  Even the greatest magic would not be enough to save her, and I’m fresh out of that.

   I kick her sword out of reach.

   “Please...”  She only has a chunk of health left, indicative of her life force slowly draining away.  I open my inventory and extract the item the first Red Stalk I ever killed dropped, holding it tightly in the palm of my hand.

    A rare healing potion.  All monsters can drop it, but the drop rates are extremely low.  Potions are the only items that can be relied on to work anywhere.  There are healing crystals, and healing magic; but there are areas where both are disabled.  This is the only reliable healing item no matter where you go, which makes it invaluable.

   And it is the only option if I want to save the girl in front of me.

   Do I want to save the girl in front of me?

   I can see a tiny glimmer of hope in the brunette’s crystal sapphire eyes for just a second, but it disappears almost instantly.  Probably her rational side squashing her hope.

   It’s now or never.  Her health is dwindling to zero any second now.

   I pop the cap off of the consumable and force the potion to her lips.  

  

**Can you imagine if he drank it himself right in front of her?**

 

**...Anyways...**

**So, yeah, it’ll cure her paralysis, burn...and heal her vital organs, namely her spinal cord, and stomach, and the massive chunk of her liver, etc...**

**She won’t be moving for a bit, that's for sure.  And she doesn’t, not really.**

 

  As the red liquid disappears down her throat, her health steadily rises, climbing back into healthier levels.  I sigh in relief as the color slowly returns to her face, before quietly going to grab her fallen weapon, stashing it in my inventory.

   “...Why did you do that?”  Lindsey asks, her eyes fluttering as she struggles to maintain consciousness.  Between the severity of the damage being healed and the shock and trauma of having a hole literally burned through her she’s struggling to stay awake.  She won’t be moving on her own for now, anyways.  Broken bones and twisted limbs are much easier to heal than gaping wounds and slashed flesh - replicating human cells and knitting torn skin is much harder and takes more time and energy.

   “I don’t know.”  I reply tersely, gently picking her up.  “I’m not sure.”

   “Is it-”  She gasps in pain as my fingers accidentally brush the still-healing wound, “-because I’m a girl?”  

   “No.  Stop asking questions.”  Lindsey struggles to raise her head to look at me.

   “Where are you taking me?”  This time, when my hand scrapes the hole in the small of her back, it is quite intentional, eliciting a muffled shriek from the girl.

**Ow.**

   “You’ll see.”  And there was silence, and I continued to walk.

**  
  
**

   And I knock on the carved stone door and announce myself, and then I open it, and I walk over to Anna, and sit down, and, still holding Lindsey carefully, rest her head on my leg.

   And then I fall asleep.

   “Thank you.”  A voice, calling out from the edges of my consciousness, and that’s the last thing I remember.

**Anna didn’t even notice.**

 

**Doesn’t even care.**

  
**She has a book, damnit.**

 

**Go away.**


	4. Chapter 4

 I wake up without any significant bodily injury, though my left leg is feeling quite numb.  The girl with her head on my lap jolts awake, and our eyes meet.

    And then she jumps to her feet, and I stand up, dusting my legs off, and we both walk outside, leaving Anna to continue scouring The Book for information.

    And it goes without saying that that will never be acknowledged again.

    

**Immediate awkward fluff.**

**Anna, of course, doesn’t notice.**

    “You know you’re not obligated to follow me, right?”  I ask Lindsey, who is still trailing me through the bare pine trees.  It feels like it has been days, or even weeks - there’s no way the other players have had this eventful of a day.  

     But the sun’s still a few hours away from going under the horizon.  About twenty-one hours ago, I met Anna, which precedented my descent into insanity.

     “Why are you still following me?”  I ask, perturbed by her continued presence.  I’ve admittedly tried twice to ditch her by sprinting across, around, and above the foliage - each time, she’s easily kept pace, even with her wound still closing shut.  I’ve given her every possible reason to break apart - yet here she is, keeping up with me with no effort.  I even gave her the silver rapier that drew my blood and nearly killed me - and besides a silent thank you, nothing.  Not even an assassination attempt.  Though, it wouldn’t be possible right this second, as the two girls and I have formed a party that prevents us from seriously hurting each other.

**If she wanted to leave, all she needs to do is exit the party and run off to who knows where.**

     “You know where the Book is, and you’re a powerful fighter.  Who’s allied with another powerful fighter.  If I stay with you, I can get stronger, and I’ll be safer.”  She reasons fairly, and I shrug indifferently.  Well, at least she hasn’t stated her intentions to stab me in the back the second she gets the chance, though I’ve offered her more than enough opportunities to kill me through sheer inattention.  Hell, she was sleeping in my lap for the last three hours.

**Teehee.  :3**

      “You’re not mad that I nearly killed you?”  I wonder out loud, looking sideways to catch her reaction as I sidestep a tree.  She frowns for a second but there’s no malicious intent or hatred in her eyes, which I’ve long since realized are portals straight to her heart.

**Tyler’s not a terribly dense protagonist.  I mean, hello, Lily?**

      “You used a Healing Potion to keep me from dying.  That counts for something.”  Lindsey says, nimbly keeping pace and then some as we leap through the trees, our increased speed from agility builds allowing us this method of travel.  Anna is physically incapable of doing this.

      “She’d just burn everything down.”  I think dryly to myself.  

**Dry humor at Anna’s expense.**

  
**Anyways, Tyler’s somewhat perceptive.  He can read personalities fairly well, especially if the person in question is open enough.**

      “You won’t stab me in the back, because it’d be a waste of a valuable item.”  She continues, and I shake my head.

     “If you’re too annoying, you will wake up at the bottom of a ravine.”  I say sincerely, and Lindsey just smiles sadly.

     “That’s better odds than what I’d have on my own.  At least you’d let me wake up.”  She say, quietly, and I slow down for a second as the ramifications settle in.

**GET GUILT TRIPPED NERD**

     I don’t like people, and people don’t tend to like me.

     But I know one thing, and that’s the simple fact that being alone sucks.

     I want to work independently, yes.  I never want to hold a precious person’s life in my hands, because if I lost them, it would destroy me.  That’s why I can’t work with people.  I’m scared of growing an attachment to them, to lose someone.

**Psst.  Lily.**

     It’s also why I don’t have any problems being friends with Anna.  She’s strong, and despite her carefree, silly nature, I know from pure experience that she’s very powerful.  Her battle trance, and the cold calculations I can see behind her eyes, are just a few signs of her extreme potential.

     Lindsey, too, has got to be one of the top players in the world right now.  I don’t know what level she is, but it stands to reason that she’s got to be at least level 10.  Her speed and reaction time is phenomenal, and it was only sheer luck in the end that allowed me to win.  

**Let me make it clear, levels have nothing to do with reflexes.  That’s all skill.**

**They only affect (stats) magic intensity, physical strength, and movement speed.  Everything else is TRAINED MANUALLY.  Even then, all three can be trained without stats.**

     Strong friends, that I don’t have to keep watching out for.  People I can trust to guard my back, and do it successfully.  Those are the people I want around me.

**Because Lily was kind of weak in terms of fighting ability.  Excellent support, but weak.  Can’t blame her.  Pacifism.**

     Lindsey suffers my problem.  With a few crucial differences.

     Unlike me, Lindsey actually likes people.  Girls naturally seek companionship, male and female both...right?  It’s a thing.  They have to be with people, the social creatures that they are.

     But I don’t think she has friends, that are alive, anyways.  The tint of melancholy in her voice makes me wonder...

  “Linds...”

  “Lindsey.”  She corrects.  “My name is Lindsey.”  

  “Too bad.  I’m calling you Linds.  It’s convenient.”  I reply shortly, and she rolls her eyes.

  “Whatever.”  Lindsey says, sounding irritated, or trying to, anyways.  But the small blush on her cheeks as I call her by her nickname says otherwise.  

  “If you want to join me and my friend, I wouldn’t mind too much.”  She almost trips leaping off another tree in surprise and rights herself by snagging a passing branch to correct her course.

  “Thank you.”  The brunette says softly, suppressed emotion in her voice.

   It makes me feel like a decent person, for once.  But I can't help but wonder-

   Why trust me?  Why tell me that?  I'm positive that she could have worded everything in a way that would have brushed around the more emotional aspects of this conversation, but she didn't.  She chose to let me know.

   Silly girl.  But I'll humor her.  Truth be told, she's not all too annoying, and I don't mind her.

**Aweeeeee-**

 

   “Where are we going?”  Lindsey finally asks, curious.  I jump down to the forest floor and roll, Lindsey following me.

   “I want something to kill.”  I say simply, my senses on high.  There had been a brief flash of color in the edges of my vision, alerting me to a nearby irregularity.  The girl starts, though quickly masters her emotions before I call her out on it.

**He’s just screwing with her, I promise.  Lindsey, of course, doesn’t know that.**

   “Hold on.”  I say, narrowing my eyes, and Lindsey stops instantly.  “Something, there’s something wrong here...”  I allow the Tracker passive to take over my vision, colors showing the different substances nearby.

**So, yeah, invisibility is meaningless to an ALERT Tracker.  That's mentally draining, so most don't do it outside of fights.  That's a mistake.**

   “No, we’re good.  Clear.”  And then I’m lunging forward, my swords already being drawn out of their sheath, to stab directly at the nearest tree.

**He said “clear” to make it seem like nothing was there, but that was only to psych him - the invisible person - out.**

    The invisible player almost makes it.  Almost.  My blade scrapes off of the knife he raises in defense, but Lindsey intercepts him, her rapier drilling through his chest and causing him to shatter in iridescent crystal.

    “Two to the left, one to the right, and the last one...”  Without looking, I aim straight up and release a Fire Blast, a large branch exploding into hundreds of shards directly above us,

    A falling body quickly follows, though I ignore it in favor of sprinting away.  The burning mass hits the ground immediately after, the death ring of shattered glass indicating the player’s death.  

**Falling dozens of meters while on fire normally leads to consequences like death.**

    Lindsey’s engaged in a two-versus-one, though with only a passing glance I can tell that she’s more than a match for them, the two one-handed duelists no match for the superior speed of Lindsey’s swordsmanship.  

**It’s not that they’re bad...it’s just that Lindsey is good.  Reckless, and an idiot at times, but good.**

   My instincts alert me to someone behind me and without thinking, I jump away, a powerful sword slam coming down besides me and frosting the dirt at impact.

   An Ice-type user.  My eyes narrow when I recognize the person, tall, tan, with blonde hair and blue eyes.

   Adam.

**Heeeey, remember this guy?**

   I slash quickly twice at him, but he blocks with his ever-present tower shield before lashing out with his blade.  I respond by ducking the blow and thrusting at his heart, but he forces the barrier between us just in time and pushes outward, forcing me to retreat slightly.

   Behind us, a scream, followed by a roar of rage.  Seems like Lindsey’s doing fine, then.  Her help in this fight would be appreciated...

   My attention returns to my fight as Adam mutters an incantation, his shield glowing aqua blue before he slams the bottom against the ground.  Eyes widening, I leap sideways as a row of short, but extremely sharp ice crystals appear on the ground in a quick-traveling line, uprooting a few trees among the way.  

   He can’t possibly be a magical build, so those attacks will not appear often...  All the same, it reminds me to be careful, and to watch out for further tricks.  I had no idea a shield could be used for ranged attacks, but...the more you know, I guess.

**Basically, if you don’t have much of a magic stat, then your magic abilities, if they exist, are going to drain the hell out of you.**

   I sheathe my lefthand sword as he reorients himself, clearly somewhat exhausted from the attack.  My extra sword probably won’t be of much help, given that pure speed is irrelevant as long as that tower shield remains in play.  No...what will decide this fight...

   A Fire Bolt nearly takes his leg off at the knee-

   ...is magic.  The first one to land a blow will win.  I rush forward, utilizing my sword to try and poke a hole in his defense, to little effect.  The tower shield he uses is far too effective in keeping me out.  A smaller shield, and he would have been stabbed fifty times over.

    But I am able to keep him somewhat busy, using a downwards flaming slash to force him to bend back to absorb the blow.  I hop up and over his shield, aiming to send a Fire Blast into his back on the way down, but he manages to twist in time, barely, and the flame explodes against his sword.

**A sword-fight would be a battle of attrition, so he’s bringing in his superior magic to turn the tables.**

    My own blade is sacrificed in blocking the rebound, and the force of the blast sends us flying away from each other.  I use the time I’ve bought to hurriedly scroll through my inventory, slipping a Mana Potion into my pouch as well as a second, long one-handed sword, which I wield with as much ease as a two-handed sword.

**He only has one sword on him, remember?  That just broke.  He’s resorting to the weapons left behind from the people he killed.  When he killed them, their items went into his inventory.**

    We were instructed on all weapons, and, if it came to it, I could even passably use the tower shield that Adam wields.  Of course, everyone has their own speciality, but it is certainly possible to swap between weapons, with the sole exception of magical conductors, such as wands and staffs.  Practically everyone else in my class saw it a waste of time, but I’ve practiced to be able to use nearly every weapon with decent proficiency in the event that I could not use two swords.  

**But he’s best at two swords.  Ambidexterity.**

   Right now, it may very well help me win this fight.  The items collected from the party Anna and I systematically took apart leaves me with plenty of spare weapons I can use.    

   “That was John’s sword, you ba-”  A Fire Blast silences him, pushing him back a meter as he blocks against the steel.

   “Yeah, well, I don’t particularly care.  Moving on.”  I say, sounding bored.

**If someone pisses on your friend’s grave like that, you get mad.**

 Perhaps I’ll wage psychological warfare.  Maybe he’ll slip up.  A knife finds its way into my other hand as Adam charges at me, screaming bloody murder, and I lazily dodge, noting that finesse seems to have been sacrificed for sheer power.  The sword, anyways, cleaves right through the trunk of the nearest pine tree, sending it falling to the ground.

**Like so.**

   “That fight was ridiculously easy, anyways.  It was kind of fun to torture everyone you knew, after you ran away like a worthless coward.”  His attacks become easier and easier to dodge as he loses control, swinging wildly.  I don’t bother to parry, knowing that the pure strength behind these attacks would probably slash through any defense I try to muster, anyways.  

**No one was tortured.  Psychological warfare, remember?  Anything to win, after all.**

   “What was that guy’s name?  Josh?  Jake?  Whatever.  Anna and I took turns roasting him alive, that was delightful.  It took a long time for him to die, we kept healing him.  We started at the toes and worked our way up, but he gave out before we could finish his stomach."

**Yuck.**

 Finding a good moment, I throw the knife in my left hand as I flip away, the blade embedding itself in Adam’s left knee as he commits himself to a wild shield slam.

   “And that other little kid?  Anna let me have him, and I twisted his own sword right through his stomach, spilling out the contents of his lunch onto the floor, and he drowned in his own blood.  It was fantastic to watch, and ever so exciting.”  I try to make my voice as childish and innocent as possible, to further amplify the effect I must be having on his emotions, and it seems to be working.  I can actually see the man shake.

**Imagine it.  Honestly imagine it.  It’s like Fate/Stay Night’s Ilya.  (copyright to them, I own nothing)**

    “And the best part?  There was that one guy, where we got to rip his tongue out and then force it back into his throat, and we didn’t let him die until he swallowed...”  I let a manic grin onto my face.

**Ew.**

    A scream, presumably Lindsey finishing off her second opponent.

    “Hey, look.  Another one of your friends bite the dust.  How many more do you have?  I mean, we’ve already got nine down, and, well, there’s only so many people left...  I do need more experimental subjects, you know?  Someone has to let me refine my torture techniques.”

     “You sick-”  Adam can’t seem to finish his statement, though his sword starts to glow a violent cyan.  “I’ll kill you!  And your little friends!  I’ll slaughter all of -- urk.”  

     My own sword, clothed in bright flames, stabs right through the center of his shield and through the man.  “You will do no such thing.  Unlike you, I protect my friends.  I would never run away.”  

**The accumulated damage Tyler has been doing from his fire attacks plus Anna’s intense fire beam that never really was repaired led to a stress point that Tyler took advantage of.**

     He tries to say something, perhaps some sort of derogatory comment, and I let my sword go and put my hand to the hole in the steel shield in front of me and say “Fire Blast.”

    The resulting focused explosion sends everything in front of me into iridescent glass, falling in the afternoon sun before fading away.

    Lindsey jogs up to me, watching magic heal the last of the burns on my right hand.  I calmly withdraw a katana from my inventory, the same one belonging to one of the players I killed in the earlier fight, and strap the sheath to my back.

    “Your voice carries well.”  The girl says softly, giving me a look equal parts wary and inquisitive.  

    “So?”  I ask, preoccupied with the spatter of blood on my cloak.

    “Did you really torture those people?”  She finally asks, not sounding particularly disturbed.  Simply curious, I think.

    “What do you think?”  I murmur, fairly amused.  Not giving her a chance to answer, I turn and walk back towards the way we came.

    “...When you said you were looking for something to kill, did you go this way on purpose?”  

    “Linds.”

    “Yes?”

    “Be quiet.”  I say blankly.  Her “Okay.” elicits a sigh from me.

    But it makes Lindsey smile, and I’m not nearly as irritated as I pretend to be, so I don’t comment on it, instead taking to the trees again.

    Lindsey follows, and we make our way back in silence.

**She knows he’s screwing around with her.  She’s pretty perceptive too.  So she's now aware that he was just messing with her from before and that he's not really angry with her.  Otherwise, this could lead to anime-like drama problems.**

**If she hadn’t realized he was only saying those things to mess with Adam, believe me, she would not have taken it as well as she did.**

    We’re back in the clearing when I notice that there’s a male on the far side, heading towards the stone hut where The Book is located.  After a brief glance at each other, Lindsey and I sprint towards it, cutting the fifty meter gap in under thirty seconds to intercept the man.

    Lindsey, naturally, immediately goes for the man, a fairly large male with a collared, dark blue longcoat.  He also looks slightly older than me, the hints of a moustache beginning to grow, color resembling his spiky black hair.  Wielding a broadsword, I judge him to be of limited skill, until he moves.

    In a heartbeat, his sword is up and moving and only Lindsey’s stunning reflexes saves her from getting decapitated  She rolls awkwardly and grimaces, her free hand flying to her stomach.  In an instant, I’m standing in front of her, raising my liberated katana up in a guard.  

**Her injury from before isn’t fully healed.  In hindsight, Tyler shouldn’t have let her 2v1...but he didn’t know until now.**

     His attack...was blindingly quick.  I barely managed to track it.  That’s not stats, that’s sheer skill, and it’d be wise to hear him out before doing anything.  I study him carefully, noting that he has the beginnings of a mustache.  A fully grown adult?  Interesting.  His skin tone is on the paler side, but I can see the muscle in his frame.

     Skill.  This man has skill.

     “Still not healed yet?  Back off a little, you can’t afford to slip up here.  You may not survive another mistake.”  I whisper quietly to her, alarmed.  I know Lindsey totally underestimated the man and I know she’s still injured from the attack I dealt her previously, even hours later.  I can feel her stare on me and I can sense the small smile that comes to her face as she stands, evidently defiant.  

**Lindsey?  Back down?  Ahahahaha no.**

          He takes one look at Lindsey, then his eyes shift to my defensive stance.  I’m ready to charge in to stall for Lindsey, since she apparently has some kind of death wish.  I’d prefer her alive and well, and intend to give her the time needed to find a competent, healthy fighter (Anna.)

     “You know, I don’t think-”  He’s cut off as Lindsey darts under me and rushes at him, a low upwards stab aimed to land just under his ribcage to pierce his heart, a very good first attack aimed to finish, though if she misses it will leave her open.

      Phoenix almost casually swings her giant broadsword and she runs right into it, a cracking sound ringing through the clearing as she’s sent flying into the air.  I roll my eyes as I take three steps backward to catch her fallen body, her rapier sliding to rest at my feet a few seconds later.  Without pause, I pick it up, the girl slung over my left shoulder and her rapier sheathed at her waist.  

**She just broke her wrist.**

**Can’t blame her.**

**Wait, she charged in without provocation.  Nah, blame her.**

**Imagine a baseball bat.**

     “Okay, now I’m confused.  Are you supposed to be the good guys or the bad guys?”  He runs us over with a curious eye.  “Okay, a girl and a effeminate kid.”

     “...”  What?

     “Well, you’re not attacking me, so that’s a good sign.”  He rambles blithely on as I twitch.  “Is Lindsey always like that?”  He asks, my eyes narrowing in realization.

     TRACKER TRACKER TRACKER

     He has reflexes that will only be further augmented by the sensory skill that the Tracker passive gives.  A stab of fear pierces my gut.  I...don’t think I could beat this guy, if it came down to it.

      “Get out here, Anna.”  I say, loudly, making sure that the girl inside the stone hut can hear me.  Using my words to disguise it, I gently place my hand over Lindsey’s back and start pulsing healing magic into the skin, knitting together the ribs I know she shattered in that stupid attack.  

 

**And her ribs.  lol.**

      “What?”  The redhead appears next to me, glancing at Lindsey, than at the opposition.  A quick movement sees her wand in her hand, tapping Lindsey’s stomach as the girl stirs in my arms.  A second later, the swordswoman slides out of my arms and immediately mimics my posture, a defensive stance.  

**Anna just finished healing off Lindsey’s injuries.  Lindsey should be resting now, considering her still-healing injuries, but she's kind of not happy right now.**

     “Don’t attack.  There’s people waiting outside of my Tracker range.”  I whisper to the girl next to me, a nearly imperceptible nod my response.  So she’s willing to listen, or maybe she’s learned from her own hasty attack.  Phoenix smiles somewhat.

     “Oh, by the way.  The idiot with the shield and the slightly shorter idiot with the shield, I can see you.”  I call out.  

    “Damnit, how’d he know?”  A boyish voice complains.

    “It was your fault!  I told you that was an obvious spot!”  A different, slightly older voice retorts.

    “...You guys are wearing purple and bright freaking blue.  How am I supposed to miss either of you?”  I grit my teeth.

    “Are they serious?”  Lindsey whispers to me.  “Is this some sort of plot to get us to lower our guard?”

**In fairness, Lindsey, you can’t really lecture or complain about strategy.**

    “I don’t know.”  I murmur back, watching the revealed pair carefully as the two shield-users stumble through the forest.  One trips on his face with a loud clang of metal.

    “You tripped me!”  Raffy, the taller of the two, accuses, waving his shield wildly.

    “Did not!”  Tony, the shorter, owning a broadsword and a shield, defends.  Anna giggles before sharply cutting off the sound.

    I just shake my head, irritated, before sheathing our swords.  “I’m not particularly in the mood to fight.  Why are you here, Tracker?”  I question, trying to sound neutral.

    “Well, we’re here to fight the monster that’s supposed to be by The Book, but if you’re still using it, we can chill out and wait.  I want to look through it later, see if it points me in the right direction.”  And I actually believe it, reading his body language.  Anna frowns.  She sees it too.

    “Uh...”  The witch nods.  “Sure?”

    “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to party with us, if you’re here solely for peace?”  And maybe I could have an interesting sparring partner.

    “Huh.  Why not?”  He pokes at his menu and, seconds later, sends a “Party Merge” request.  I accept without hesitation.

**Tense situation dissolved.  Lindsey’s kind of annoyed she didn’t get to fight.  But okay.**

**Basically, the whole situation was weird enough for Tyler to stop wanting to fight.  There ultimately wasn't a reason to, and he's not a player-killer.**

    “Well, what do you know?”  Anna asks, perhaps hoping to get some information.  She receives the disappointing, but expected, answer of “Nothing besides what the NPC told me.”  

    “It’s a field boss.”  Anna adds helpfully.

   “So we’d need to meet certain conditions for it to spawn...And it has to be here, huh?”  Hmm... I puzzle out the problem while Anna kicks around grass, clearly having already exhausted this line of thought without any progress.  Phoenix just blinks a few times before settling down.  His two companions chase each other around the clearing.

   “I’ll go get the Book and bring it here; maybe there’s a quote in it that we missed.”  Lindsey wanders off towards the stone hut.

**She actually just wants to kick something around in frustration.  Still wanted that fight.**

   “Didn’t they say something when they gave us the information?   It was a riddle.  What was it?”  I pace anxiously, trying to remember information from two years back and struggling.  “Why didn’t I write it down?  Ugh.  Even the stupidest of players got a standard Notebook and Pencil to write in...but I never bothered with a set.  Stupid, stupid...”

**I’m probably going to go into detail about the clue hunt a bit later...but everything stated now is all you need to know.**

   “I think there was a warning in the Book somewhere about it...”  Anna mutters thoughtfully, kicking a pebble in her path.  “Something about...”

   “The poem said something about...a monster...and the Book...They’re connected...How?”  Phoenix talking for the first time.  I extract three one-handed swords from my inventory and sheath them in various places on my body, sliding a silver knife into my belt.

   “The trail ended, didn’t it?  It ended with the Book.  But the monster is supposed to be with the Book.  It shouldn’t have ended, it should have continued.  There’s nothing else here at the end of the trail.  That means...That means...”  The three of us look at each other in horrified realization, the sound of Raffy beating Tony senseless with his shield almost comical in the sudden silence.

**I hope this logic is followable.  There’s no other way to explain it.**

   “The monster IS the Book...”  Anna and I stare at each other, wide-eyed, as the revelation kicks in.

   “Crap!”  I spit out, whirling rapidly towards the stone hut as Lindsey, apparently not strong enough to carry the book, kicks it out into the open grass, over the threshold of the stone hut.  

   Then the stone hut explodes and we're sent flying backwards from the shockwave, Lindsey disappearing as the ground ruptures beneath our feet.

**  
**Boom.  



End file.
